It was my turn to chat with Comic Art Fans (CAF) moderator Bill Cox this past Tuesday. We ended up talking about lots of interesting comic book publishing history… plus some great art. You can watch it directly through the link below:
And speaking of comic book history…
In celebration of 50 years of the creation of the comic book specialty distribution market, Milton Griepp of ICV2 is featuring a series of interviews with early “pioneers” in the business. The day before this past SDCC, my interview (video and print) appeared. If you’ve got some down time (Ok, if you’re bored with pretty much everything else on-line at the moment), please join me down the rabbit hole.
Good timing on the publication of the interviews; I am personally celebrating 40 years of professional contributions to the popular entertainment arts (Topps, IDW Publishing, Activision, et al) in one media format or another.
Teenage Greg (photo is October 1975, at Phil Seuling’s monthly Comic Book Marketplace show in New York City) would be very amused, if not startled.
In celebration of 50 years of the creation comic book specialty distribution market, Milton Griepp of ICV2 is featuring a series of interviews with early “pioneers” in the business. Yesterday, my interview (video and print) appeared. If you’ve got some down time (Ok, if you’re bored with pretty much everything else on-line at the moment), please join me down the rabbit hole.
Good timing on the publication of the interviews; Today is the first day of San Diego Comicon, and although I won’t be behind a table, and it won’t be as musty,I will indeed be celebrating more than 50 years of contributions to the popular entertainment arts (Topps, IDW Publishing, Activision, et al) in one media format or another.
Teenage Greg (photo is October 1975, at Phil Seuling’s monthly Comic Book Marketplace show in New York City) would be very amused, if not startled.
Visible on the table stacks: OMAC #1, Savage Sword of Conan #1, Iron Jaw # 1, all purchased through Seagate Distributors, the pioneering comic book distribution company launched by the legendary Phil Seuling.
It took me a while to acquire a piece of art from his run on the famed female barbarian, but I ended up with a cool one.
To this day, the wildest convention events I have ever personally witnessed were the live performances featuring Red Sonja (Wendy Pini, Linda Behrle, and others) and Frank Thorne playing a wizard: “Sonja and the Wizard.”
They called themselves the “The Hyborian Players.”
It was indeed the 70s. Trippy, dude. Trippy.
Famed talk show host Mike Douglas with Phil Seuling, Wendy Pini as Red Sonja and actor Jamie Farr, July 1977
I’ve always wanted to own an original cover painting by the amazing George Wilson, whose covers graced Magnus Robot Fighter, Turok, Doctor Solar and so many others, primarily for Gold Key and Classics Illustrated. In fact, the original art of my favorite painted cover — The Classics version of H.G. Wells Time Machine — appeared at auction just a few years ago. And rapidly escalated out of my price range.
Soon after, waves of other covers attributed to Wilson were also offered at auction. Many of these were selling at much more affordable prices. Vague provenance. Lesser titles. Later issues. Etc.
I glanced at many of the covers for sale, appreciated them, but pretty much overlooked them.
Then this one caught my eye — a cover for Twilight Zone. A subway scene creatively composed and nicely lit. Made me nostalgic for my New York City days. The “killer graffiti” concept seemed a bit out there, even by Twilight Zone standards, but, so what? Even if not actually “deadly,” graffiti was a giant problem during that period in New York… I remember it all too well.
I examined the painting closer. The train’s design is clearly based on an actual NYC subway car of that era, not a “generic” one. It’s the Number 7 train. Runs cross town Manhattan to Queens — a subway I had taken many times as a kid to comic book conventions at the landmark Commodore Hotel at Grand Central Station. The Commodore was the home of many historic fan conventions. Funny coincidence.
Date of the published comic book: July 1975.
July 1975? That was the final appearance of Phil Seuling’s New York Comic Art Convention at the financially struggling Commodore. It’s a convention I remember fondly. The Industry was still buzzing about Jack Kirby’s return to Marvel Comics, announced just a few months earlier, at Marvel’s ownconvention, also at the Commodore.
Ok, owning this painting was meant to be, whether Wilson actually painted it or not. The actual story in the issue mattered not at all, but this specific cover image, at this specific time and place, certainly did. Sold.
What ultimately became of the struggling Commodore Hotel you ask? Well… The young son of a very successful New York real-estate developer, looking for his first project he could call his own, persuaded NYC to give him a 40-year tax abatement if he renovated and re-opened the landmark hotel. Abatement in hand, he took the deal to the Hyatt corp., and convinced them to partner with him to make the deal a reality.
His name? Donald Trump.
And this is a story that could only happen…in the Twilight Zone.
